PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Raymond Hoffenberg TI - Brenner, the worm and the prize AID - 10.7861/clinmedicine.3-3-285 DP - 2003 May 01 TA - Clinical Medicine PG - 285--286 VI - 3 IP - 3 4099 - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/3/3/285.short 4100 - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/3/3/285.full SO - Clin Med2003 May 01; 3 AB - The recent award of a Nobel Prize to Sydney Brenner crowns an astonishingly distinguished scientific career. He must have come very close to winning it several times in the past. A colleague described him as ‘a visionary who sees further into the future than anyone’. This is borne out by his decision - made 40 years ago - to study a one-millimetre long worm in detail to define the biochemical and genetic control of its development and differentiation. The impact of these studies has been so profound, with a significant bearing on human physiology and disease, that over 400 laboratories worldwide have now adopted the worm as a research tool. In this article, a brief outline is given of his work on the worm and of some of the highlights of his brilliant career.